Welcome Home
by loveboylove
Summary: To find your true love, to fall in love with them and have them return your feelings, to go to war with your true love, to watch them be gunned down before your eyes. For your true love to heal and have no memories of you; what despair one would feel. ZxC


Hey everyone! loveboylove's at it again. :) Now, this story is a giftfic for ThePirateMage (and helping me write it ^^;) but I hope you all enjoy it as well. I think we know by now that I don't own these characters or the world they live in. *Sigh* Now; sit back, relax, and enjoy.

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Cloud's POV

_Flash Back_

_ "Zack! Put the camera down, I look like crap!" I whine. Zack just keeps grinning and snapping pictures as I chase him around our shared apartment, swinging a rolling pin, rather threatening-like, if I do say so myself. I just got back from training and I'm sweaty, smell like a pack animal and I'm sure I look the part of a flustered Chocobo._

_ "Say cheese Spiky!" Zack dodges my swing towards his head, grabs my face with his free hand, and starts kissing me while still taking pictures. I weakly try to struggle away then drop my 'weapon'. I feel him grin into my mouth and I know I'm blushing like crazy._

_ "Jerk," I mutter as he lets me go. He just grins and kisses me on the cheek. _

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_

_ "C'mon, smile yo!" Reno scolds Sephiroth. The great man just fixes him with his customary, 'You've got to be fucking kidding me' look and turns to Zack and I as we try to smother our laughter. Reno rolls his eyes at this, "Okay everyone! Gather together just like that. Aerith doll, move a little closer to General tight ass over there. Good! Hey! Where do you think you're going, Angeal? That's right yo. Genesis, if you don't put your damn book down in two seconds I'm shoving it where the sun don't shine! Zack, stop molesting Cloud when I'm trying to take a group picture! Gaia you people are hard to work with!" Reno grinds his teeth but his mouth twitches. _

_ "Okay, that's go-Goddess damn you Tsung! Get off your bloody phone yo!" Reno marches over to him and pockets the phone, muttering, "Can't just get everyone together to make a good photo yo. Stupid, annoying, useless…"_

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_

_ "Isn't it great?" Zack bounces next to me, excitedly as he throws out his arms and gestures at the landscape. _

_ I blink against the brightness of the sun hitting all the white sand, making it sparkle and shine. A small smile forms on my lips. "I've never been to the ocean before."_

_ "I know! That's why I got us this week off. Now we can spend a week swimming and exploring Costal del Sol and just have fun."_

_ I chuckle slightly and stand on my tiptoes to give him a gentle kiss on the lips which he returns enthusiastically. "So…you like?" Zack grins._

_ "Mm…it's nice." His smile widens and he takes out his camera. "Zack," I mock groan, "Not again with the camera. I swear you must sleep with that thing sometimes."_

_ "For the memories Chocobo-boy! And nnnnnnnnno, I just hid it like the stealthy SOLDIER/ninja that I am. Now, hold still." I roll my eyes but obligingly stand still and look out at the sea as Zack snaps picture after picture._

_ "What? No pictures of you?"_

_ "Hey, you're right! Okay, Cloud point the lens at me then take a picture with this button." He smilingly hands over the blue and silver device._

_ "It's not like I've never taken a picture before. We had cameras in Nibelhiem you know," I say huffily. _

_ Zack just flashes me another wide smile so, with a sigh, I start taking pictures of him._

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_ I snuggle into Zack's arms as we sit on the couch in our apartment, looking at the newly printed pictures. "What the-When did you even take this of me?"_

_ Zack gets a far away look in his eyes, "Right before you completed. It was so beautiful…I just had to take one…or five." He looks like he's getting hard just at the memory. Truth be told, so am I._

_ Resist! I stand up and take half the pictures with me. "Hey, where ya going?" He sounds so disappointed. Ha ha Zack!_

_ I turn around and flash him a seductive smirk, "Well Zackary, I was just putting these someplace safe. I'll be back though. Can you wait a minute?" His eyes darken with desire and he nods. I can feel his eyes follow me out of the room._

_ Quickly, I stuff the pictures underneath a book on Materia in the top drawer of my desk. We have a mission coming up tomorrow in Wutai. Since I'm a 3__rd__ now, I'll be coming too but still…I'm sure everything will be fine. I hurry back to Zack, pushing those dismal thoughts into the back corner of my head. At least we'd be together. Nothing could tear us apart…Nothing…_

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"Cloud, get down!" I throw myself to the ground as a missile sales overhead and collides with a group of other SOLDIERS. Their screams of pain are drowned out by the other clamors of war as their burning bodies are added to pile of the already fallen.

I quickly scramble to my feet and scan the field, looking for the enemy. The smoke was thick, clogging the air and my lungs; I had lost my helmet on a previous dive for cover. I cough and wipe my streaming eyes, smearing ash onto my cheeks and forehead.

Zack materializes next to me. It was, of course, he who had warned me of the missile. "Are you okay?" He had to shout to be heard over the noises of battle; his normally friendly and loving face was a mask of fierce determination and barely concealed fear.

I nod and he takes off again, throwing himself into the fray. My heart burns, I want to shout at him to come back, to get away from here. But he wouldn't. He's a SOLDIER after all; nothing would make him abandon his comrades.

I wipe my eyes again and scan for enemy attackers. There! A flash of blue among the smoke choked battle field. Two Wutai soldiers heading my way. I cock my gun and fire at the one on the left. His blood flies out of his body as his partner screams in rage, charging me with a sword pointing directly at my chest. I shoot him too. He's so close to me that I can see his eyes widen in surprise, feel the warmth of his blood as he falls in front of me.

I reload my gun, glancing around in case of an ambush through the smoke. Three more break away from the main battle and run at me. I take out one of the gunmen but the other two are closing in! Then Zack appears and cuts down the swordsman. The other soldier keeps coming. I point my gun to fire but Zack's right there!

Time seems to slow as I watch the man hold up his gun and pull the trigger. My eyes turn to look at Zack as he screams in anguish. There's blood everywhere, staining my already crusted uniform but now it's my blood. I hear a deep buzzing sound as I feel my legs collapse. My chest hurts and suddenly the back of my head does too. My mouth forms words but I can't hear what I'm saying. Someone's screaming. Why are they screaming? It's a sound filled with pain and rage…and a sound so sad it breaks my heart…

Then nothingness engulfs me.

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There are people around me… A red light is flashing and I'm moving even though I'm not standing up… What's going on? I hurt… There's so much noise… I open my eyes blearily and see people running beside me… A man with spiky black hair is screaming for someone named 'Cloud'… He looks so upset… I think I'm on a stretcher but… The man's eyes are wild with pain… Pain. All over my body, in my body… My eyes close again and, as I slip slowly back into the darkness, I wonder who this 'Cloud' is…?

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If you wanna tell me what you think, reviews are always nice! ;) Also, who wants me to continue with this? Message me or tell me in a review. See ya next time!

-loveboylove


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